Almost Lost
by Token Child
Summary: A team is sent to rescue the initial five-man team issued to bring Sasuke back. Story may contain spoilers for people who have only gone as far as the anime episode 112. Warning: Super-powered Kunoichis of DEATH... just to warn you.
1. Ino Saves

_Italic text_ means that a character is thinking.

"Text in quotation marks" is a character talking.

The story is told from a 3rd person point of view at all times.

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Naruto, no matter how much I would like to XP

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Akimichi Chouji flicked open his pill case for the third and final pill, the red pepper pill. Jiroubou walked closer, his palms glowing with chakra, ready to absorb whatever was left of Chouji's energy.

_I wish I could just get that last chip._ Chouji reached for the bag.

Jiroubou thrust him arm down, almost crushing Chouji's throat. He then picked the bag up, eating Chouji's last chip. Not knowing, Jiroubou let up on Chouji just enough for him to bring the pill case to his mouth. As the pill began to fall in to his mouth, a shuriken hit the case, knocking it out of Chouji's hands.

"What the?" Jiroubou readied himself to block another weapon attack from that direction. "Who's there?"

"Stay." A figure walked forward out of the shadows "Away from my comrade."

"And who," Jiroubou kicked Chouji aside for the moment "might you be?"

"Yamanaka," starting in to a run, the figure came bolting out completely in to the light "Ino!"

With time to spare, Jiroubou pulled back for his Gangeki._ As soon as she comes in to range_ he thought, _now!_ He released his "Boulder Strike" directly at Ino, easily blocked. A counter-attack launched with three kunai, which bounced harmlessly off of Jiroubou's chest. Analyzing the situation, Ino understood it would be best to deal with the enemy from mid-range, staying away from close combat.

Ino had become a much stronger female ninja since the Chuunin Exam, when she had tied with Sakura and been eliminated. Ino had been developing new offensive properties of her Shintenshin no Jutsu; her father had also taught her one of the most valuable jutsus of the Yamanaka clan. Shinranshin no Jutsu. One of the most powerful offensive jutsus of the leaf, it consumed a large amount of chakra, and was only to be used as a finishing technique.

From forty paces, Ino and Jiroubou eyed one another, anticipating each other's attacks. Drawing six kunai from her holsters, Ino hid two explosive tags among the kunai left still in the pouches around her waist. As she did so, Jiroubou readied for a defensive counter-attack as soon as his opponent made a move. Not knowing that Ino had a plan, he assumed he had the advantage.

"What are you waiting for?" He snorted, "Girly."

"If you want an attack," Ino brought her arms back "then here goes!"

Releasing all six kunai to precise weak-spots she noticed among Jiroubou's body, Ino started in to a run directly to her right. The kunai flew at lightning speed towards Jiroubou's eyes, throat, and wrists. As the kunai were blocked, Ino cart wheeled, hurling the two explosive tags attached to kunai directly under Jiroubou's feet. Realizing what was happening, Jiroubou accumulated chakra to his feet and began to run.

No time to lose, Ino gathered Chouji and fled to the safety of a very large nearby tree. As the tags exploded, Jiroubou's legs were just caught in the last of the blast, rendering him immobile for a short while. Taking this as a wonderful opportunity, Ino pulled out a scroll given to her by her father before she left on the mission. Unrolling it completely, she poured her chakra in to the words written on the paper, and tossed it in to the air. Spiraling down, the characters written on the scroll leapt off and spun around Ino as she performed the necessary hand seals.

_My leg, the curse seal is beginning to recede?_ Jiroubou limped towards a tree to lean on. _That was no ordinary explosive tag, is it possible she is more powerful than me?_

"It's time," muttering, Jiroubou's nails began to grow, becoming more claw-like every second that passed. Sensing the chakra Ino was producing for the technique she was setting up, Jiroubou extended his arm down to the ground. Piercing the earth, his giant talons tunnelled down through the ground to right underneath Ino, poised to spring up and strike.

"You're mine." Ino, breathed as she brought Jiroubou's tree in to sight, "Ninpou, 'Mind Link'." The writing from the scroll constricted and was absorbed in to her skin.

Directly below Ino, Jiroubou's sharpened hands flew up through the ground as the girl finished her Jutsu. At precisely that moment, Ino and Jiroubou's minds were linked together, although Jiroubou was unaware.

Realizing she was in danger, Ino jumped aside, Jiroubou's attack hitting her calf. Bleeding, Ino clasped her hands together to form the horse seal. Using her favourite form of attack, psychological warfare, Ino pelted Jiroubou with constant mental attacks. Prevented from attacking, and trying to fend off the assault inside his head Jiroubou's arm withdrew from the ground.

"You will not be forgiven," panting, Ino broke the seal, "for what you have done to Chouji."

_What is this jutsu?_ Jiroubou, slowly regaining control, raised his hands to his head. _I feel the pain, but there are no wounds…_

Taking out four of the special explosive tags marked "Daibaku", Ino attached them to four kunai. Imagining a perfect square around Jiroubou, she threw the kunai to craft a Kekkai Houjin. The seals on the explosive tags created the barrier area formation, stopping Jiroubou from moving completely. Sensing her opportunity to end things, she started her father's special jutsu. Putting each of her thumbs to her opposite index fingers, she formed a rectangle with her hands.

"Shinranshin no Jutsu!" Ino projected her mental energy straight at Jiroubou.

As if on cue, Jiroubou's body went limp. Ino stood up straight, and flung four shuriken with chakra embedded in them at the Kekkai Houjin's explosive tags. With the formation broken, Jiroubou's body was able to move again, although he twitched a bit.

_He's resisting the jutsu?_ Ino bit her lip, _this isn't good, I should finish it immediately._

Overpowering Jiroubou's mind, Ino was able to control his movements. Tossing him a kunai and some string, Ino forced Jiroubou to tie the string to the kunai, and then around his neck. Once done, Ino focused on having him pull the string so tight that it would strangle him. The string snapped.

Unable to think of any more ideas, Ino pulled out her last explosive tag. She saw that Jiroubou's twitching had become more severe. Linking what was probably her last hope to a kunai, she threw it to Jiroubou.

Moving as quickly as she could, she picked up Chouji and started to run. Feeling her hold over Jiroubou slipping, she issued one last command to his body. About 100 metres away, Jiroubou plunged the kunai in to his skull, detonating the explosive tag.

From just out of the blast radius, Ino sighed. She felt Jiroubou's mind slip away. He was definitely dead, and she could now focus on helping Chouji.

"Chouji," she nudged him, "please stay alive, just for a little while more."

Putting Chouji over her shoulder, Ino noticed he had lost weight. Not a good sign for a member of the Akimichi clan, especially since his chakra was minimal. She raced off back to Konoha, hoping that the rest of the rescue team she had come with wouldn't need her help.

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That is the end of my first chapter. Reviews would be nice… more to come. 


	2. Neji Smiles

_Italic text_ means that a character is thinking.

"Text in quotation marks" is a character talking.

The story is told from a 3rd person point of view at all times.

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Naruto, no matter how much I would like to XP

* * *

Tenten, unlike regular genins, wore five holsters around her waist. One pouch, she used for her kunai, another for shuriken, one for her needles, one for smoke bombs, and the last for her "Daibaku" explosive tags. As well as holsters, she also carried a backpack holding larger bladed weapons, and six scrolls tied in various places on her waist. Lastly, Tenten had two katana in sheaths on her back in front of the backpack.

Together, the four person, all female ninja squad flew through the thick forest. Hot on the trail of Shikamaru's previous rescue mission team. Tenten, Sakura, and Hinata. The fourth member, Ino had fallen behind to personally take care of Akimichi Chouji.

Sensing nearby chakra, the three girls proceeded with extreme caution. Noting that one of the chakras was gradually becoming weaker and weaker. At that point, Hyuuga Neji came in to sight.

_Oh no,_ Tenten thought,_ what if he's mortally wounded?_

Neji had several daggers in his back, and was bleeding from what looked like severe wounds.

Searching for the location of Neji's attacker, Tenten spotted Kidoumaru. The spider-like sound-nin was sitting in a far away tree spewing what looked like silk. As she watched, the silk began to harden in to the shape of a large arrow. Gasping involuntarily, Tenten took out her Fuuma Shuriken. Unfolding the blades, she waited for Kidoumaru to initiate his strike.

Mouthing silently to her team mates, Tenten gave them the ok to move ahead to find the rest of Shikamaru's squad. As her fellow female ninjas moved out, Tenten drew back her large shuriken. Lining up a path that would intersect that of the spider arrow, Tenten took aim.

_I'll aim for the weak spot below his neck._ Kidoumaru released his arrow.

_Now!_ Tenten hurled her "evil wind shuriken" on a direct course to interrupt Kidoumaru's attack. Once she had thrown the weapon, she bolted for a new spot to hide, having given away her position.

The shuriken hit the arrow, scratched it, and sent it off course. The arrow plunged in to the tree, and went straight through Neji's left shoulder. He understood what had just happened. Knowing that even if he had focused his chakra to his blind spot, the arrow would not have been deflected that far.

_So, someone's here,_ Kidoumaru and Neji thought in unison.

_But who?_ Neji knew he could not search using his Byakugan, but he looked around for the person who had changed the trajectory of the arrow.

_Maybe I'll give him a little hint._ Tenten took out a normal shuriken, and scratched her name in to it. She aimed for the just beside his hand on the tree. Throwing the shuriken, once again giving away her position, Tenten bolted once more. Getting slowly in to range for a powerful attack on Kidoumaru.

A shuriken piercing the bark of the tree beside him, Neji reached his hand down and pulled it out. On the shuriken, Neji read the name.

_Tenten,_ he thought,_ so she thinks she's powerful enough to defeat this foe?_ His hand dropped to his side, _she had better not get her self killed._

Kidoumaru was busy scanning the area. He was moving around quite a bit, trying to find the shinobi that had disrupted his attack. Pulling dagger after dagger out of his mouth, Kidoumaru was ready to fend off an attack, or dish one out.

Tenten, analysing Kidoumaru's every move, stayed at a constant distance of 200 metres away. A very large chakra, and an unusual third eye were the first things to get Tenten's attention. Deciding it was best to stay hidden, Tenten set intricate traps to catch him off guard. Not wanting to waste her special explosive tags, Tenten wired some of her kunai so that they would spring out. Hidden, when someone tripped the string, the weapons would shoot from within their hiding spot, hopefully killing the enemy.

Suddenly, totally to Tenten's surprise, Kidoumaru appeared in front of Neji. Staying a safe distance from any of Neji's Jyuuken attacks, Kidoumaru drew a dagger. Drawing back, Kidoumaru grinned.

_If they want him alive,_ he thought, _then I'll drive them out._

Tenten took out a kunai. Estimating the strength of Kidoumaru's dagger from how much damage was done to the arrow he had made before, Tenten reinforced the kunai with chakra. Hopefully, it would be enough to at least deflect the dagger.

Kidoumaru let fly. Tenten did as well. Both with precision aim, the kunai and dagger intersected just meters from Neji's face. Tenten raced down from her hiding spot, to stand in between Neji and Kidoumaru.

_She should have stayed where she was,_ Neji sighed, _now she probably won't stand a chance._

Dropping one of her knockout smoke bombs, Tenten jumped. Kidoumaru jumped as well, knowing not to inhale any of the fumes. Neji however, losing blood, was incapable of getting away from the smoke. Tenten leapt in to save him, pulling him aside as even more of Kidoumaru's daggers were flung through the smoke.

_Her chakra control has improved,_ Neji noted, thankful,_ I must tell her of his abilities._

"Tenten…" Neji found he was panting hard, "he uses mucus as spider webs, they are only breakable by Jyuuken." Tenten nodded, impatient due to the situation.

"He can use the mucus as armour like that of Gaara." Neji wheezed, "be careful."

_He's concerned for my safety?!_ Tenten didn't know what to feel, _should I be happy or angry? He obviously doesn't believe that I can beat this guy!_

"Ne—" He cut her off, pulling her to the ground as more of the spider daggers flew towards them.

Taking out normal smoke balls, Tenten threw four against the ground as she grabbed Neji again, placing him under the roots of a large tree, quite hidden. Tenten dropped two more smoke balls, and back flipped in to the air.

Watching as Kidoumaru emerged from the smoke, Tenten drew kunai after kunai, chakra embedded in each one. A seemingly deadly barrage, the kunai rained down on Kidoumaru. Grinning, he went right through the cloud of kunai. Ten times stronger than normal, the kunai bounced right off Kidoumaru's body. A small crack emerged in every place the kunai did hit.

_This must be the "Golden Mucus Shell"._ Tenten thought as she floated in the air. With Kidoumaru speeding towards her, Tenten saw the cracks, and came up with a plan.

Taking one of the scrolls tied around her waist, Tenten started to spin. Putting chakra in to the scroll, she spun faster and faster. Summoning almost every bladed weapon known to man, Tenten hurled them with perfect accuracy straight for the cracks in Kidoumaru's armour, mid-flight.

Feeling confident in himself, Kidoumaru sped straight on towards Tenten. The first weapon to hit was a simple needle. The needle collided with a piece of his shell that was cracked, ripping it right off. Kidoumaru understood he couldn't just take every hit. Flailing, he used his shelled hands to knock away most of the weapons. Each weapon that did end up hitting its mark however, damaged Kidoumaru.

Not suffering from a critical hit, Kidoumaru came to the ground on one knee. Shell cracking from the first head-on attack, he took out his Kumo Yumiya, and brought an arrow out of his mouth. Tenten, still on her way to the ground, smiled as she prepared to test her new swords.

Tenten touched the ground as soon as Kidoumaru released his attack. Wasting no time, she turned to face the arrow. Pulling her special katana from their sheaths on her back, Tenten brought them down in a crossing swipe. The blades slashed the very tip of the arrow, plunging it in to the ground. The force of the attack pushed Tenten back a few feet, but she stayed standing.

The special swords that Gai-sensei had crafted were made of the same weights that Lee-kun wore. With special symbols on the blades, the swords were virtually unbreakable. Taking considerable strength just to wield the swords, Tenten was only strained a little. Training every day with the katana on her back made it much easier to hold them up.

"So, you have some pretty special swords there," Kidoumaru was walking closer to Tenten now, followed by many little spiders, "but I have some tricks as well."

The spiders ran around Tenten, circling, and then pounced. While in the air, the spiders turned in to Kidoumaru's spider mucus. Clinging instantly to Tenten's body, she was unable to move at all.

_Shit!_ Tenten started to thrash, trying desperately to get free of the spider mucus.

Walking slowly over to where Tenten was standing, Kidoumaru made five mucus daggers. Jumping in to the air, he soared higher and higher until finally he lowered his head and shot all of the daggers down at Tenten.

"Hakke Shou Kaiten!" Neji leapt from the side to parry the daggers. Using the last of his chakra, Neji deflected the daggers back at Kidoumaru, and cut the threads holding Tenten in place.

Kidoumaru came falling down from above, spurting mucus every which way creating sticky threads everywhere. A large dome, with strands draped from side to side to prevent movement without had seemingly been placed over top of them.

Tenten, holding up the collapsed Neji, untied another scroll from her waist. Putting Neji over her shoulder, she performed the necessary hand seals and wrote one word in blood on the open scroll. Picking up the scroll, she spun, and the sticky fibres began flooding towards her. The Fuuin Makimono sucked every single wisp of mucus into it. Sealed, Tenten closed the scroll and slipped it in to her backpack. Seeing that Kidoumaru had used much of his chakra to perform that jutsu, she dropped a smoke ball and went to go hide the unconscious Neji once again.

Staggering, Kidoumaru knew he didn't have much time left before his cursed seal wore off. Blinded by the smoke, he jumped straight up and out. As he did so, he saw three shuriken coming towards him. He sensed no abnormal chakra in them and so readied to deflect them with a simple spider dagger.

"Shuriken, Baika no Jutsu!" Tenten made the last hand seal and the shuriken grew ever larger than Kidoumaru.

Not enough chakra to create the "Golden Mucus Shell" in time, Kidoumaru brought his dagger in front to try and block the attack. Unsuccessful, the huge shuriken hit him dead on, sending his flying backward in to a tree. After striking Kidoumaru, the shuriken changed back to normal size, yet still doing a lot of damage.

Bringing three explosive tags from their pouches, Tenten reached in to her backpack to get out her version of a kusarigama, instead of a sickle on the end, just a spearhead. Starting to twirl the chain with the spearhead on it, Tenten threw the explosive tags up in the air. Releasing the kusarigama, the sharp point flew through the explosive tags, catching them. The chain kept going, revealing that Tenten was aiming directly for the stunned Kidoumaru.

_I'm going to get him with this attack._ Tenten thought confidently, _I won't even have to use my new development of the Soushouryuu._

As the explosive tags started to burn, Kidoumaru came to his senses and dived just out of the way of the chain. The explosive tags, being "Daibaku" style, her special adaptation of the traditional explosive tags, hit the tree, and exploded. Kidoumaru, on the ground was not even close to being out of the blast range, and was blown meters away to lie smouldering beneath the tree that he had shot through to hit Neji.

_What?_ Tenten was astonished that he had not been blown apart, _my "daibaku" tags explode ten times larger than the originals, and yet he is still in one piece?_

_It's a good thing,_ Kidoumaru was panting on the ground,_ that I had thought to create the mucus shell after her first attack. She gave me lots of time fishing through her backpack._

"I guess I might just have to use all the scrolls," Tenten put the kusarigama back in to her backpack, "but we'll see." She was talking to herself, but as she did so she untied two more scrolls, both similar to the very first she had used.

Pouring more chakra in to the scrolls, Tenten unravelled them in front of her. A wonder she had not run out of chakra yet, she brought the long scrolls behind her head, and pulled them down violently as if she were wielding a fan.

The weapons sealed inside the scrolls came flying out and Tenten directed them accurately at Kidoumaru. The seals on the scrolls disappeared as more and more weapons came rapidly out.

"Take this!" Tenten shouted as the last of the weapons were unsealed from the scroll.

Kidoumaru shed his mucus shell and ran to Tenten's left, bringing the Kumi Yumiya out once again for what would have been a final attack. Dodging all of the weapons, Kidoumaru made one last mucus arrow. Jumping sideways in to the air, he shot directly for Tenten's chest.

With only enough time to drop the scrolls and draw one katana, Tenten sliced at the arrow. The force of the arrow knocked her back hard in to a tree. Tenten coughed up blood, it seemed as though she had internal bleeding. Blood trickling down from her mouth, Tenten fought the urge to scream in pain.

_I need to finish this or Neji could be doomed,_ Tenten was feeling light-headed, but got to her feet. Pulling the last two scrolls from around her waist, she stood them up on the ground. Ploughing through the hand seals, Tenten finished by crossing her arms. The scrolls exploded in to the air in a cloud of smoke, like dragons spiralling upward. As the scrolls reached their maximum height, Tenten sprung up in the middle of the ascending scrolls. Pouring out almost every last bit of chakra, Tenten summoned and hurled all of the weapons she could. As the weapons flew, the scrolls rolled up a little more, finishing by re-ravelling themselves.

The weapons poured down on Kidoumaru like a black cloud. The weapons had been filled to the brink with chakra. Kidoumaru started to run, but was eventually cornered, feeling the effects of the receding curse seal. Concentrating mucus to his hands, he successfully deflected the last of the weapons. Rapidly losing stamina, his breathing was rough.

Tenten, using the strings attached to her fingers, jumped up in the air for her new modified final attack. Pulling the strings, so that the weapons rose from the ground, Tenten whipped her hands up and then down to send all of the blades flying at Kidoumaru again. This time, as the weapons struck Kidoumaru, Tenten shot her chakra through the strings and in to all of the blades, causing them to explode in to millions of flying shards. Kidoumaru was dead, cut to shreds.

Tenten came to the ground, and rushed over to where Neji was lying. His eyes were open, and he had seen the whole fight. Unable to move, he only smiled. Tenten smiled back, and stroked his hair. Neji let her, as he noticed something odd about her. She had a very distinct chakra, much like that of a Hyuuga.

Tenten, tending to Neji's wounds, never took her eyes off of him. Neji was relieved to be in good hands. Overcoming the fact that she had defeated a foe he could not, Neji let go, and gave in. He looked in to Tenten's eyes, and they kissed. Not for long, however, because the kiss was broken by the sound of birds flying off in the distance. Neji had not been able to detect one of them, but he was still alive.

Tenten had saved him. A beautiful girl had saved him from certain death. Realizing that for all these years, he had been in love and had not admitted it to himself. Tenten, he remarked to himself, was indeed beautiful, and very talented.

_I finally feel acknowledged._ Tenten took Neji in her arms and caressed him like a baby, staying like that for some time. Tenten never wanted to let go, but she had a duty. To return the members of the Nara Rescue team to Konoha.

Slowly getting up, Tenten helped Neji to stand, and they walked together back to Konoha, hand in hand.

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That is the end of my much longer, second chapter. Please review, and if you don't like it, please say so. Next chapter to come much later. 


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